D.10.a - 1904 Mountain View Road - Citizen Comments — original pdf

Backup

Brummett, Elizabeth From: Sent: To: Subject: Attachments: Follow Up Flag: Flag Status: Follow up Flagged Tom Reeder Saturday, January 23, 2021 1:09 PM PAZ Preservation Fw: Case Number PR-20-186435 - 1904 MOUNTAIN VIEW RD 1949 Acme Brick Experiment.pdf; giesecke article.pdf; ceramic house 6 pg 2.tiff; House of Tomorrow_ 1950.pdf; Marilyn Bartons Freeze 1983.jpg; 1993_05_08_Austin_American- Statesman_Tom_Reeder_obit.pdf; 2016_03_08_Austin_American-Statesman_Marilyn_Reeder_obit (1).pdf *** External Email - Exercise Caution *** ATTN: Andrew Rice I received the Notice of Public Hearing for a demolition permit for the home at 1904 Mountain View Rd. As of last fall, however, I am no longer the owner of the home. In any event, I would like to supplement the information already included in the meeting notes with the hope that it would shed light on the historic importance of the home. I am the son of the second owners of the property, Tom & Marilyn Reeder, who owned the property from 1976 to 2016. Following the death of my mother in 2016, I purchased my brothers' shares of the home and worked to restore it to its original, historic condition, with the aim of seeking historic zoning. Although I would like to move back to Austin where I lived for 20 years, I have been unable to do so due to family commitments here in Virginia. Early in 2020, I leased the home to a tenant with an option to buy, believing that he would try to finish the restoration project that I had started and make it his home. I believe he made that effort, but he concluded that it would not work for him. Unfortunately for me, he exercised the option and flipped the property to a developer late in 2020. I believe the home is an important part of Austin's architectural history and would be happy participate in the hearing if helpful and permitted. I would especially like to highlight the historic aspects of the design and construction of the home. It was one of seven houses designed in a research project conducted by the College of Engineering at the University of Texas with the financial assistance of the Acme Brick Company. Enclosed are two documents describing the project, The first is the pamphlet published by the Acme Brick Company with details of the project (1904 Mountain View is House Number 6). The second is an article by Prof. F.E. Giesecke with additional information about the project. The house was the subject of at least one recent masters thesis in Historic Preservation at the UT School of Architecture, which was presented at the 2018 Association of Preservation Technology in Buffalo, NY. Of the seven houses designed as part of the project, I believe only six were constructed -- four on Meadowbrook and two on Mountain View. They all had essentially the same floor plan, but each was built of different 1 materials and/or roof structures. 1904 Mountain View is the only one that has been maintained essentially the same as it was constructed, although the house at 1906 Mountain View has maintained the essential structure and style of the original. The house was designed by the noted Austin Architect Hugo Kuehne. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Kuehne I am attaching a page from the original blueprint of the house that includes Mr. Kuehne's name. The home is constructed of architectural tile and the roof deck structure with exterior staircase are characteristics that distinguish it from the other houses. I am attaching an article from the Austin Statesman from 1950 that discusses the roof structure and a little about the project. It identifies the house as the "House of Tomorrow" and shows visitors on the outdoor living area on the roof. At the time, the house had the most advanced heating and cooling system available in Austin. It was an early version of geothermal heating and cooling, with cooling air (and warming air in the winter) coming up from below the house, through the walls and out the structure on the roof. I would also like to provide some information about Tom and Marilyn Reeder, who were the only owners other than the Rathers and me. Following a 30-year career as an Army officer, Dr. Tom Reeder was a faculty Special Assistant to the Dean of the College of Engineering. One of his roles was the Coordinator of Engineering Research in the organization that led the research and design of his own home nearly a half century earlier. Marilyn Reeder, who survived her husband by 23 years, was an active Austin resident and one of the original "Polar Bears" who swam at Barton Springs every day, even when the weather was in the teens. Staff at the Austin Statesman always knew they could do a story on her when the temperatures dipped. If fact, they found her in the pool on December 22, 1983, when the temperature dropped to 12 degrees, the lowest it had ever been in Austin. (see attached) Attached are copies of Tom and Marilyn Reeder's obituaries from the Statesman. I hope this information is useful and would be happy to discuss this further. Again, I would also be happy to participate in the hearing if that would be helpful and permitted. Thank you for your work! Tom Reeder, Jr. CAUTION: This email was received at the City of Austin, from an EXTERNAL source. Please use caution when clicking links  or opening attachments. If you believe this to be a malicious and/or phishing email, please forward this email to  cybersecurity@austintexas.gov.   2 Research Dream Home Lies in Cold Ceramics The Austin Statesman (1921-1973); N Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. o v 2 1 , 1 9 5 0 ; P r o Q u e s t H i s t o r i c a l N e w s p a p e r s : T h e A u s t i n A m e r i c a n S t a t e s m a n p g . 1 7 "William Thomas Reeder" (obituary). (cid:36)(cid:88)(cid:86)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:3)(cid:36)(cid:80)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:76)(cid:70)(cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:16)(cid:54)(cid:87)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:80)(cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:17)(cid:3)Vol. 122, no. 287 (May 8, 1993), p. 27. Retrieved January 23, 2021, via – Newspapers.com (subscription required). URL = https://www.newspapers.com/image/356058332/ Austin American-Statesman. Vol. 145, no. 227 (March 8, 2016), p. B4. Retrieved January 23, 2021, via – Newspapers.com (subscription required). URL = https://www.newspapers.com/image/434898696/ 1904 MOUNTAIN VIEW 1 PROF. LONG’S PAMPHLET 2 3 4 PROF. LONG’S CERAMIC HOUSE 1708 W 30TH ST. PRIOR TO 2015 5 LONG HOUSE WITH ADDITION APPROVED BY HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION IN 2015 6 7 8